Sunny St. George...and biting Ants!

We headed to St. George Thursday afternoon to meet up with my parents for some 4-wheeling and good 'ole fashioned sunshine. Carsen was so excited to see his Pa and Gigi. (I think they were a little excited to see their two grandkids as well.)

The weather was fabulous and the company was even better. We stayed at a condo that was right by the four-wheeling trail where we headed out for a couple of hours each afternoon. Of course the men were able to slide in some early morning golf...Each evening we ate like Kings and driving home from the trip I swore I was finished eating for the rest of my life. (At least until the next meal came rolling around.)

We asked Carsen what his favorite part about St. George was and he said, "Actually, the brownies." (My parents made brownies and I think he single-handedly ate 75% of them.) He also loved being out four-wheeling and kept asking when we were going to go again. We had to convince him we were dirty enough for one day. I must say that Myka was the best of all. She fell asleep both days!

Funny little story. While we were unloading the four-wheelers from the trailer Carsen was playing on an ant farm. He is only 3, so he doesn't know all the facts of life and that there are good ants and bad ants. He has seen the ants around our house, which are the size of a little crumb...these were much larger and he was very intrigued. He made a game out of stomping on their ant farm. (I know, that's not good. But I do think he may have learned his lesson.)

Minutes later Carsen has climbed up onto the four-wheeler and lets out a scream. We thought he had been burnt by the hot seat. We got him down and he was still crying. We asked him what was wrong and he kept tugging at his bum. Oh boy. We pulled down his pants (and underwear) and there hanging out in the bottom of his undies was a large ant. He had been bit on the bum bum by an ant!

Carsen loved this CAT. He put on his "man" voice and went to work.

There is nothing more fun than recreating with my family!

Enjoying a little picnic during our ATV excursion.

Carsen trying to find some more ants to bite his little bum!

Gigi and Pa with the kiddos.

Birthday Girl!

Myka turns 1 today! We love our little Princess Mooka. What a funny little girl who has brought so much laughter (and disaster) into our home! (We spent the weekend in St. George, so we haven't done the birthday cake mess yet. We plan on celebrating that portion for Family Home Evening tomorrow night...that way I can have an activity of cleaning cake off of everything!)

Why we love our Myka:

• She does not like anything to be put on her head. I have the most adorable little clips and headbands that she instantly rips or pulls out of her hair the minute I clip it in. There are times (when she really needs to have one in) that I will distract her and ever-so-carefully clip it in. What a waste of money.
  
• The food on her tray is not there to stay. Myka will put a couple of pieces of food in her mouth, but then she starts throwing it overboard. This is fine (to a point) when we are home...but when we eat out it's quite humiliating. The majority of the food ends up beneath her (and all over her). When she's finished...she's finished, and she makes sure we know. She is by far the messiest eater I have ever seen! (And of course she rips the bibs right off. She has even discovered how to get the ones off that you put over the head). Baby food is a joke. She swats at our hands when we try to feed her, which leads to even more messes.
  
• She LOVES her "pinkie" (or binkie). She also likes to share it with others.
  
• Myka is the best little snuggler (and kisser as you can see from the previous post). Her snuggles only last about 20 seconds, but they are so precious! Whenever we talk about kisses she makes a smacking noise and heads over for some kisses!
  
• Her favorite toys are Carsen's. She has an entire room full of "girlie" Myka toys, but she always heads into Carsen's room where she loves to play with his work-bench and his action figures.....Whenever she finds a car she is pushing it all over the floor.
  
• Her favorite game is Peek-a-boo.
• She puts the phone (or anything of that shape) up to her ear and points the remote control at the TV (I'm not sure if this is a good thing, or a bad thing!)
  
• She loves to climb up the stairs and thinks it is a game. She will peek around the corner to see if we are watching and then she gets excited and begins her climb. She has just discovered how to come back down, which still makes me very nervous.
  
• She absolutely HATES having her hair washed and stands up and clutches to the side of the bath tub. It makes hair-washing a very difficult task...more water ends up on the floor than on her head. She also dislikes lotion rub-downs and the blow-drier.
  
• Waves hi/bye whenever we say the words
• Has the absolute loudest squeal ever heard! It's ear-piercing....and usually produces instant results of whatever it is she is wanting.
• Myka has the cutest little smile and big blue eyes!
  

We love our Myka!

Kisses Anyone?

Myka's new thing is to give kisses. And she just doesn't give a kiss--she gives you a big, wet lick. It's quite cute, but probably one of those things only mommy and daddy appreciate receiving!!! Whooo eeee! What a kiss!

Easter.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and met Jason and Robyn (Chad's brother and his wife) and their girls Alli and Ashlyn at Kneaders for some delicious French Toast. (If you've never tried it, I don't recommend it unless you plan on becoming addicted and wanting it all the time. It's not so much the French Toast as the syrup! Oh baby!) After becoming loaded down with bread we headed to Butterfield Park with the rest of Herriman and Riverton for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. It was about 32 degrees.....and down right chilly. (I don't like Easter being this early in the year. Easter is supposed to mean shorts and t-shirts, not winter coats and hats.) The Easter Egg Hunt lasted all of 42 seconds and then it was over.... Carsen didn't know any different and was thrilled to have some eggs in his basket.

I am not used to these Easter Egg hunts. I grew up spending every Easter in Moab on the Jeep Safari. Our Egg hunts were done on the slick-rock during the Safari. Now that we have kids we haven't done a Safari for 2 years...and I miss it! I am hoping the tradition will start back up once everyone stops being pregnant and having new babies around Easter time. (Not that we don't love the babies, but I really miss Moab this time of year)!

Brr....bundled up in our winter coats we headed to the Easter Egg hunt.

The day continued with other spring-like actitivites--Chad took Carsen to the driving range for the first time this season and I headed to the mall to pick-up Myka an Easter dress. Later that evening we decorated Easter Eggs, which was another thrill for Carsen. He loved coloring on the eggs and plopping them in the cup. (I think he broke everyone he handled. Oh well, I eat them!)

Me, Carsen, Alli and Ashlyn coloring our eggs.

Here's the kids in their Easter pretties. Poor Carsen was dead tired by the end of church--which is exactly the way we like it!

Myka's First Haircut

I decided Myka's hair may be 'long' but it was also scraggly and baby looking. There isn't a whole lot you can do with feather-like hair...

I took her to Cookie Cutters, because I was hoping the atmosphere would be distracting...She was given a little car to be strapped to, which entertained her a little bit. (I kept turning the steering wheel and beeping the little horn.) And of course they gave her a little sucker. Myka does not like anything to be strapped around her neck--the hair-cutting cape was no exception. She kept yanking on it, and drooling sucker all over it. Luckily the actual haircut consisted of about 3 snips. By the end she looked absolutely adorable, but was covered in sticky sucker. (It never could have happened without the sucker though.)

You Try!

I had 4 words wrong....I was seriously sweating! I felt like I was back in high school taking those typing tests! Whooh! What a rush!

106 words

Speedtest

Speedtest

Let's 'Try' to Fly a Kite.....

Herriman seems to be the windiest place in the entire state, which makes it the perfect place for kite flying this time of year. Today was no exception...in fact..it may be have been too windy! (Is that possible?)

Leslie, Nat and I (and an entire army of children it seemed) headed over to the local elementary school to try out the "special surprise" we brought back for our kids from our Mexico vacation. (El cheapo Mexican Kites). After one attempt to get the kite in the air it was a tangled mess. Of course the sly Mexican salesman who sold us these kites must have been some kind of 'kite wizard' because his kite was beautifully floating in the air at the time of purchase.....Oh well, the kids thought it was fantastic!

This is what Carsen thought of the kite.....(Nah, he really had a good time. He didn't care that the kite didn't go in the air...he loved to run around with it dragging on the ground.)

One of the kites after attempting to be flown....and then getting tangled on the crash landing.

Myka has 3 teeth. Two on bottom and one eye-tooth! It's hilarious!!! Her Pediatrian said the next tooth coming in looks like it will be the other eye-tooth! (She's going to look like Dracula!) She loved being on the aerated grass...she kept picking up the clumps of dirt and inspecting them. Carsen asked me, "Can she eat the poo-poo?") I do think she tried.

After exhausting our efforts at kite flying, we decided to let the kids play at the park for a few minutes before we were blown away!

Make-Over

Thanks to Natalie and her nerdy computer skills on giving my blog page a fresh, new look!

The Cruise

We are home from sunny Mexico. Now all we have are wonderful memories of the most perfect vacation ever! We were surrounded by fabulous friends (with lots of laughs), way too much food (according to the scale, I packed on 5 lbs...!!) and perfect perfect weather and activities.


Day #1 BOARDING THE SHIP
We arrived at our boat (Vision of the Seas on Royal Caribbean) and met up with our friends who had the joy of being able to take a quick flight from Salt Lake. Of course we couldn't start the cruise off without some food...so we ate....(and we continued to eat and eat the rest of the week. And I am not exaggerating). We did some dancing out on the deck the first afternoon and headed to an opening show. (We hit every show on the boat and loved all of them! It was by far the best entertainment I have ever been to on a cruise ship). That evening we also met our waiter, who soon realized we were not going to be small eaters......

Day #2 FIRST DAY AT SEA
We spent a good majority of the day on beach chairs soaking in the beautiful sun and enjoying some good laughs....Later on in the day we entered a Rock Climbing contest (mind you not one of us have ever rock climbed)! Natalie, Marcy and I took 3r, 2nd and 1st place! (Oh yea, we are the absolute best rock climbers....I won't mention that only 3 girls entered the competition!!!)

That evening was the formal night and we all got dolled-up. Dinner was followed by some Karaoke where Natalie, Leslie and I showed what fabulous singers we are...(or not so fabulous!) It was all in good fun, and luckily we will never see any of those people ever again.

Aren't we lazy....No kids and no work! What a life!
Chad, Randall and TJ show-off their new-found skill of rock climbing....They didn't win medals like us girls!

Oh yea, we 'rock'! Natalie, Marcy and I were the big winners.....!

Formal night (just like prom!) Luckily, I wore this dress the second night...I'm afraid by the end of the cruise it wouldn't have zipped up!

Day #3 CABO SAN LUCAS
We spent the day at Nikki Beach at this fabulous resort. We played in the water, took strolls along the beach and lounged on these awesome beach beds. The best part, we were served delicious Mexican food right to our little cabanas. (I called my kiddies from the beach and I think a little tear was shed. Carsen sounded so old, and didn't miss me a bit!)

All the gals with our cruise ship in the background.

The Olsons (Rachel and TJ) and us in front of the resort we spent the day at. Picture perfect.


Day #4 MAZATLAN
Stop #2 was Mazatlan. We were beached out and knew we had an exciting excursion awaiting us the next day, so we decided to make it a sight-seeing day. We hired an air-conditioned van to take us around the city. Our awesome tour guide showed us the hot spots and told us about the history of Mazatlan. We even saw some cliff divers who dove off like 150 ft. cliffs into the ocean (LOCO!)


When we first got in the van the driver offered us some beverages....coke, beer, water, etc. We told him we don't drink. He instantly said, "You Mormons?" We told him we were and he said, "They're my neighbors." Sure enough, they really were. He drove us by his home near the end of our tour and he lived right across the street from the LDS chapel. Of course it was the most well-kept building we saw our entire stay in Mazatlan.

Us and the Richards on the little train that took us from the cruise ship into Mazatlan.

'This little piggy went to market'....Yes, we went to market and saw this and much more grotesque meat. Oh well, I still eat!

Day #5 PUERTO VILLARTA
What a fabulous place....beautiful and exotic. This was the most fun adventure of all time! (If you ever visit this place, you have got to try this Outdoor Adventure!) Unfortunately, because Collin just had knee surgery 2 weeks prior, he had to sit this adventure out. (He was able to bond on board the ship with the Senior Citizens)!

First we put on this flimsy, orange lifejackets that would never actually save our lives if we were to go overboard, but I suppose we felt safer having them on. We went on this raft-boat zipping across the ocean for about 25 minutes. (That in itself was a thrill!) We arrived at the base of the jungle where this old-school army Jeep hauled us up the mountainside. It was at that point we put on our harnesses and mounted our little Mules. (Oh what fun! Natalie and I were riding the spunky little mules who cruised up the rocky mountainside. I thought I was going to fall off from laughing, but we finally made it safely to the top of the mountain.) From there we zip–lined to and from platforms. We were flying over jungle terrain where if we were to fall it would be the end....After the first zip we all had the hang of it and the fear was long gone. Then we had to rapell down a 100 ft rock wall and then zip-line into freezing cold water! This went on for over an hour....We were all grinning non-stop. We weren't allowed to take cameras on the adventure, so the pic's are limited!

Here we are waiting for our little speed-boat to carry us to our jungle terrain adventure!

The beautiful little beach where the boat dropped us off and we loaded up the Jeep to haul us to the base camp.

Me and Nat looking ever so hot in our gear!

Day #6 AT SEA
Another relaxing day at sea. We needed it after rapelling off rock walls and zipping at unknown speeds with nothing but jungle far below us! We spent the morning lounging by the pool. That afternoon Collin and TJ (I mean Shamu) entered the "Belly Flop Contest." It was a riot! TJ delighted the audience by impersonating the large whale Shamu.....he was then known around the boat as 'Shamu.'

Natalie, Rachel and I waiting for another evening show!

Day #7 LAST DAY AT SEA

Our last day aboard the ship was actually quite chilly. We were getting closer to California, and it was windy. We didn't mind. We were tired of the sun and wanted to hang-out indoors. We played some Bingo (Yes, Bingo!)...and none of us won, but we sure got excited at times! We also went and learned some magic tricks from a Magician and just enjoyed our last moments without kids and 'real life.'

We were sad to be having our last dinner together, so we made the most of it. I personally enjoyed 3 starters and 3 desserts! (Yum!) That evening we went and cheered on our new Utah friend (Nate) who was in the Karaoke contest. He and his wife Laci and her family sat behind us every night at dinner, so we were able to get to know them. Nate won!

Sunday morning Chad and I were one of the first ones off the boat. We started our drive towards our kids! (At this point I was so anxious and excited to see them!) They were so cute when we got to Vegas, and I swear Myka sprouted more hair! Carsen was excited to show us how well he could ride his new bike all over the patio! It was great to be back with our kids!

That was one vacation that will go down in the books as "the best ever." We couldn't have asked for things to go more smoothly! First off, it never would have happened if it weren't for my parents and their willingness to watch Carsen and Myka for an entire week! You will never know how much that meant to us-- Another shout out to our wonderful friends for being such good company and never allowing for a dull moment! When are we going again?

Cruis'n.........

We have arrived at our first stop of the trip....Vegas. This is where it all begins. This is where we drop off the kiddies for a whole week with Pa and Gigi. (I have the best parents in the world! They are seriously excited to have these two kids for a whole week! All I can say is 'good luck.')

Honestly, I think it's going to be the most difficult on me.....I am going to miss my bestest little buddies. (There will be some tears shed tomorrow morning when I am bidding my sweeties good-bye).....I will have to stay focused on all the fabulous food, sights, company and sun....maybe then I will be able to take my mind off my kids!

We were planning on flying out tomorrow morning (Sunday)from Vegas, but we decided to cancel our plane tickets and drive instead. (It's not very far from Vegas and that way we won't have to sit around airports and wait for the shuttle to take us to the boat. Plus...we can sleep in tomorrow instead of having to be to the airport at 5:00 a.m. And when the boat docs on Sunday morning we can get right off, hop in the car and head for home instead of sitting at the airport until 1:30.....) We'll see how 'fabulous' our change of plans really turn out!

Good bye snow---hello sunshine!